AMSTERDAM is a worry-free place with beautiful sights, friendly people, canal transport, magical mushrooms, coffee shops that mean weed shops, the real green fairy, and such a collection of different neighborhoods with different feels that we could have stayed for months and not truly SEEN Amsterdam for what it is. It was so beautiful and so laid back, absolutely nothing like what I imagined when you hear from everyone what a big party destination it is. That could be because the vampires don't go out until past midnight (since the sun doesn't set until about 10:30), and therefore we had an entirely different set of people parading the streets during the day time. I will tell you one thing, the red light district made me very sad. Yes, I know it;s the "fun thing" to see while you are there, but it is also real life for all of those girls who literally spend their days AND night standing in front of a glass door for any random guy to open it for sex. Some of the girls looked so uncomfortable and some looked way to young. I found out from a local friend that showed us around that sex trafficking is a big problem down there and it was quite evident to me. I didn't dare go to that area at night because I knew if it made me sad during the DAY, my drunk self would be even sadder and drunk Abby like to take action. haha. :O
Anyway, on to a happier topic because I am sure none of you read my blogs to get out a good cry, I'll go back to the beauty.
If you check out the pictures to the left you will see how gorgeous the architecture and layout of the city is. They make it very difficult and expensive to own a vehicle, so there are tons of pedestrians and hoards of bikers that WILL KILL YOU if you aren't aware. Also, just a random fact that made me super happy, in their random candy shops they basically focus on those licorice and flavored candy ropes that are filled with that vanilla cream stuff, which just so happens to be my favorite candy in the whole wide world and also happens to be harder to get my hands on in AZ than a unicorn (which may be a good thing and dentist parents please skip over this entire paragraph :D ). <<Check out this gorgeous bar on the water!! "[I feel like] I'm on a BOAT(la la la)"...anddd we're done.
OH YEAH! Remember how I make people come with me to all the Hard Rock Cafe's in every country I travel to that homes one? *Did that*.
I also learned there is a sort of tax on people who want to buy a car, to make it more expensive to own one and therefore there are less on the road.
The best thing about Amsterdam, I thought, was how everyone is out and walking. It's so refreshing to just be around people and interact with locals. We found a plaza with about 5 bars in an "L" shape and the whole middle area was just tables and umbrellas so everyone can sit out in the sun and enjoy each other and the street performers, no matter what bar you were a patron of.
The pictures above are around our hostel. We were super lucky with our hostel, it was an amazing amazing choice and I would definitely recommend staying at City Hotel if you ever plan to travel to Amsterdam. Central location, comfortable beds, great security, and lovely staff, I really have nothing to complain about with this one :).
One day was so beautiful and sunny that us girls just went out an napped in this big patch of green in the square. So relaxing, and by the time we decided to leave, the whole area was buzzing with people doing the same.
To conclude, I recommended everyone put Amsterdam on their bucket list, party animal or not, weed supporter or not, you WILL enjoy this place and will feel refreshed and happy.
XOXO
-Abby
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